Review: Franklin Inn
Posted by mike | Filed under Reviews
I have a pair of friends that I happened to meet through other friends. We all have those, right? Well, the “source” friends are currently out of the country—volunteering for a good cause, but the follow-on friends are still in Pittsburgh. In fact, they joined me in heading out to a restaurant I had only recently found out about. On Saturday, we made our way out to Franklin Inn up in the North Hills.
For those of you that aren’t completely lost in the layers of friends, I’ll give the follow-on friends names: Kate and Brad. Brad is a fellow computer geek professional that works in an office building the street from my own. Kate is one of my two photographer friends, so she volunteered to do all the photo work for my post. If you like what you see or happen to be seeking a photographer for a special event, go ahead and seek her out over at Captivating Imagery. The lighting at Franklin Inn was less than condusive to quality photography, and she still managed to pull of some good shots—without a flash, no less.
Now on to that review…
Special Note: This and all photos for this post from a professional photographer (and friend): Kate Miller of Captivating Imagery
Franklin Inn Mexican Restaurant
www.franklininn.net
2313 Rochester Rd
Pittsburgh, PA 15237
(412) 366-4140
Franklin Inn is way up in the North Hills—somewhere along Rochester Road between I-79 and Route 19. It’s not really near anything else—largely in the middle of a largely residential area. According to the restaurant’s web site, it was founded by the Cibula family in 1978 and is currently owned and operated by the original owners’ children. Here’s the funny part: you won’t find even a hint of Mexican blood in the Cibula family tree—though they have traveled to Mexico in efforts to refine their craft.
According to various sources, the restaurant was founded as the “Franklin Inn” in 1978. During the first few years, the Cibula’s found some success in Mexican-themed nights. By 1980, the restaurant had been converted to an almost entirely Mexican theme—with the pesky exception of a decidedly American name (and Logo). The “Franklin” here refers to good ol’ Benjamin of US history fame. (more)
Introducing the FoodBurgh Meetup
Posted by mike | Filed under Community, Meta
As some of you may have noticed in my Avenue B review, I have started an official FoodBurgh Meetup group. For anyone not familiar with Meetup, it’s an easy way for anyone to organize a group outing for people with a common interest. For example, you’ve probably heard me talk about the Pittsburgh Beer Meetup in a couple of posts. That’s a different Meetup group dedicated to beer enthusiasts in the ‘Burgh. Every other week or so, the group heads out to a different restaurant or bar that has sufficiently interesting beer options to warrant the trip. The FoodBurgh meetup will be somewhat similar—except the focus is on local dining more so than beer.
I see two possible use cases for the FoodBurgh Meetup.
- An opportunity to revisit some of my FoodBurgh favorites
- An excuse to try out completely new destinations
I suspect most of my meetups will lean more toward (1), but I leave (2) open as a possibility. In fact, the first (pre-announcement) outing of the FoodBurgh Meetup was to a completely new place: Avenue B. As you can see form my write-up, heading out with a group gave me a chance to see far more menu items than I could have possible ordered alone.
That outing included mostly friends of mine that I had roped into the outing. Now that I’m actively promoting the group, I’m hoping that some of my readers will be inspired to come out and give it a try. I view the outings as an excellent way to meet people with a common culinary interest.
If a Meetup group sounds like a good idea to you, why not stop by the Meetup page and join the group. If your not a member of Meetup, it’s free and easy to sign-up. Some groups are better than others, but I’m a big fan of the overall operation.
Review: Avenue B
Posted by mike | Filed under Reviews
For whatever reason, Avenue B has been high on my list of culinary destinations from the time I first heard of the place. Judging from the number of other foodies that have suggested the place, I’d say I’m not alone. Really, all I needed was a good excuse to make my way over there. Lacking such an excuse, I made my own: the first outing of the FoodBurgh Meetup. I had actually considered starting such a meetup for a little while, and this was just as good an excuse as any to get one started.
Avenue B ($$$)
www.avenueb-pgh.com
5501 Centre Ave
Pittsburgh, PA 15232
(412) 683-3663
From what I’ve read, Avenue B aims to be a casual establishment with up-scale cuisine. If you’ve ever read me grumbling about “stuffy” restaurants that try to hard, you have a pretty good idea of how well that placement suits my tastes. Founded by Chris Bonfili, the former executive chef from the Red Room, Avenue B does a pretty good job of hitting that target—though with an up-scale price point. (more)
FoodBurgh popping up everywhere
Posted by mike | Filed under Meta
Whoa. Talk about a big day for FoodBurgh promotion. Not only did the Pop City blogger article go out today, but my first article outside the confines of FoodBurgh went up on the Living Pittsburgh site. Big thanks to both Pop City and Living Pittsburgh for all the pointers back to FoodBurgh. All the Twitter shout-outs and retweets were appreciated as well.
It’s always nice to get some attention for FoodBurgh outside Urbanspoon, my friends, and my regular readers. I also think it’s good practice to point back at some ‘Burgh bloggers not finding their way into the article.
Who did Pop City miss?
Especially if your finding this page via a link, check those guys out.
One more thing, the photo of me was taken at 61C Cafe in Squirrel Hill, which is by far one of my favorite places to write up a review. Big thanks to the 61C baristas for letting Pop City do an impromptu photo shoot inside their cafe.
Review: Palomino (Downtown)
Posted by mike | Filed under Reviews
Over the weekend, I made my way downtown to celebrate a friends birthday. The heart of the city is largely uncharted territory in my world. When I go, I rarely have any idea what to expect, and this visit was no exception. Prior to being invited out, I had never even heard of Palomino. Going in with just about zero information, I can’t say I was all that thrilled. Don’t get me wrong, the food was good, and I had a good time–it just wasn’t really worth the price.
Palomino
www.palomino.com
444 Liberty Ave
Pittsburgh, PA 15222
(412) 642-7711
Turns out, Palomino is a chain—according to the Post Gazette, they’re based out of Seattle. Really, my biggest problem with chains is lack of variety, so in this case the fact that Palomino is operated by a larger organization doesn’t really both me. It’s new to me, and I don’t exactly see Palomino’s popping up everywhere. To me, that means it’s at least worth a try; I just want to make sure everyone is aware of it’s status: this isn’t exactly a local/independent business. (more)
Review: The Sharp Edge (Emporium)
Posted by mike | Filed under Beer, Reviews
I am always surprised by the number of people who have never heard of or tried The Sharp Edge. Granted, I was one of those people at some point, but my introduction was years ago in grad school. Now, I’m definitely a fan of the atmosphere and what they seem to aspire to. The food, however: not so FoodBurgh friendly. I like to focus on food I don’t feel guilty about eating, and that can be a little hard to find at any of the Sharp Edge locations.
Fast forward several years out of grad school, and The Sharp Edge came up at a Birthday outing for one of my friends. She was interested in hitting it up in the next few weeks, so I took full advantage of the opportunity to assemble a FoodBurgh post (and hang out with an old friend). For the non-veggies in the audience, I even have some non-veggie coverage courtesy of said friend.
Sharp Edge Beer Emporium
www.sharpedgebeer.com
302 S Saint Clair St
Pittsburgh, PA 15206
(412) 661-3537
The Sharp Edge really falls into the category of “regional chain,” but the Shadyside/Friendship location that I went to this time is the original. They call it the “Beer Emporium.” Other instances are available throughout Pittsburgh—from Sewickley (“The Bistro”) all the way down to McMurray (“The Brasserie”). Each location takes on both it’s own tagline and it’s own distinct personality. Basically, they do a good job of keeping things interesting. (more)
Penn Brewery’s Ongoing Return
Posted by mike | Filed under Beer, Community
Last week, Penn Brewery hosted their first event in a while: a sneak preview. Contrary to what you might be thinking, the event served primarily to show the world that they really are on the path to re-opening. As far as I can tell, it was also the world premier of their first ale: Allegheny Pale Ale. They’re not open yet, but they’re well on the path in that direction: all the beer served at the preview was brewed in-house.
The event was well covered already, but I was there and taking pictures, so I wanted to take the time to post my thoughts here.
Penn Brewery and Restaurant
www.pennbrew.com
800 Vinial St
Pittsburgh, PA 15212
(412) 237-9400
Though positioned as a special “sneak preview” the event was pretty well publicized: invitations were posted on multiple brewery Twitter accounts as well as the main page of the Penn Brewery site. As a result, the place was packed. Everyone, it seems, is excited to see an old favorite return. The event featured beer samples, (extremely) light snacks, and ongoing tours of the brewery. I was there for the first two hours (of 4) and the place was packed to the point that I had trouble moving around. (more)
A New Theme for a New Year
Posted by mike | Filed under Meta
Almost since FoodBurgh’s inception last year, I’ve been unhappy with the theme. I had tweaked it only slightly from a blog that I maintained through college, and a number of issues and general sloppiness had crept in over the years. The theme was created with an older version of WordPress in mind and crafted to run on an older era of browsers. Add to that, the fact that I played around with some image and column sizes, and it things were a little shaky.
As of January 1 (just after midnight), that old theme has been led to pasture. The new theme was originally a minimalist design from styleshout.com and turned into a WordPress template by Linux Web Hosting (as you can see in the tagline at the bottom). I switched up some of the imagery and tweaked the style sheet slightly to better handle my content. Because it was designed to be minimal in form, my tweaks were a little bit easier to make in a clean way. It also provides a clean new look and a chance to switch up my color scheme to something a little bit brighter and more modern.
In any case, If you tend read my posts only via the RSS fee or email list, be sure to stop by the site and take a look. I’m pretty happy with my results.
Review: The Bar at 2132
Posted by mike | Filed under Beer, Reviews
Just before things got really busy for Christmas, I made my way over to the South Side after work to exchange gifts with a pair of friends. For the sake of some new FoodBurgh content, I had suggested we do the exchange at a relatively new place: The Bar @ 2132. I had been there for drinks a few times already, but never ordered any actual food. They seem like exactly the type place I want to support, so I wanted to try the food and post my thoughts here.
The Bar at 2132 ($$)
www.barsmart.com/2132
2132 E Carson St
Pittsburgh, PA 15203
(412) 488-3980
First off, I love the name: “The Bar.” The first time I noticed their unapologeticaly clear sign, the name alone inspired my group to stop in for a drink. If I remember correctly, we were walking past in an attempt to salvaged a mediocre dinner elsewhere. The Bar seemed like just the place.
I estimate they opened under the current ownership in 2008—replacing “Wild Bill’s Sports Bar.” Based on my experiences at The Bar, I’m glad they did. On the surface, there’s nothing special here: a pretty standard slate of pub-type food and an above average beer list. But that impression doesn’t account for my favorite quality: The Bar is far more low key than the likes of Fat Heads or Smokin’ Joes. At The Bar, I can actually find a place to sit down (table or both) and don’t have to compete quite as much with the music to carry on a conversation—though both of the other places above have a better beer list.
Based on details pulled from some recent Munch coverage, it also sounds like I share an alma-matter with the owners. It’s always good to see some non-tech CMU success stories. That’s not to say I have a problem seeing tech-oriented CMU success stories; I am, after all, a computer engineer. :-) (more)
Review: Lot 17 (Bloomfield)
Posted by mike | Filed under Beer, Reviews
Due largely to my own poor planning, I ended up at Lot 17 in Bloomfield last night. Prior to that, I was familiar with the place only through Wheel Deliver (a service I used frequently for ordering research group dinners in grad school). I actually intended to visit another place (Avenue B)—for some reason, I thought it was in Bloomfield. That’s just how my brain works sometimes.
In an attempt to salvage the situation, I bring you Lot 17 (and a promise of some future Avenue B coverage). I had never eaten in at Lot 17 anyway, so it was a new experience for me (and still worth writing about). That all said, I can’t say this particular visit was all that great.
Note: I have since found that I wasn’t as far off as I thought: Avenue B is in Bloomfield—despite a quick (but inaccurate) last minute search the night of my attempted visit. My search pointed at Edgewood; turns out, it’s actually on Baum (just past the point where Liberty branches off).
Lot 17 Bar & Grill ($7-10 sandwiches)
(21/50)
4617 Liberty Ave
Pittsburgh, PA 15224
(412) 687-8117
Lot 17 is just a little bit bi-polar—at least with respect to decor. In the front, you’ll find a loud bar area—nearly filled, when I arrived; in the back, the place does a complete 180 with a surprisingly quiet dining area. The bar is rustic in appearance, dimly lit, and a bit cramped: I had trouble navigating past. The dining room looked completely different: spacious and crisp—though still dim. Two rows of booths lined the same brick walls from the bar area, only this time adorned by nicely framed artwork. A sizable inter-booth walkway even left plenty of room to walk around. The juxtaposition here isn’t really that crazy, but my journey through the bar on my way to the dining area definitely highlighted the contrast. (more)
